Texas Congressman disagrees with the IRS and wants Bitcoin to be considered currency

Steve Stockman is not exactly a stranger in the Bitcoin universe. The congressman became famous at the end of 2013 when he announced he was accepting Bitcoin donations for his Senate campaign, but he didn’t stop there. Stockman has now declared he is ready to fight in the name of cryptocurrency with a bill that intends to properly present the digital coin to the United States Congress.

“This is a nascent industry. Along with 3-D printers and nanotubes, cryptocurrency is the future. We need to encourage it, not discourage it. There is risk associated with every budding industry in America”, said the congressman.

“We salute Congressman Stockman for making good on his promise to support digital currencies like Bitcoin”, said Nick Spanos, the founder of the NYC Bitcoin Center, quoted by NewsBTC.

The bill, also called Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act, seeks to change how the American financial authorities perceive digital currencies. With this move, the congressman also intends to tackle the associated taxes.

According to Spanos, “the congressman displayed an interest in Bitcoin’s path-breaking, job-creating technology early on. On behalf of the entire digital currency community who have a stake in this nascent industry’s growth and its normalization into the economy, Bitcoin Center NYC thanks congressman Stockman for leading the charge amid what often seems like conspicuous silence on the matter”.

Maria is an experienced journalist currently living in the UK. She has been writing about Bitcoin and the altcoin universe since 2013. She is also a member of the Lifeboat Foundation's New Money Systems Board and a big cryptocurrency supporter.